Tulane University School of Medicine and Baton Rouge General Medical Center have entered into an affiliation agreement to create a satellite training campus in Baton Rouge.

Starting in May, a select group of 10 Tulane medical students will spend their third and fourth-year clinical rotations in Baton Rouge General’s Mid City hospital, serving required clerkships in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, family medicine, neurology, psychiatry and other departments. Experienced Baton Rouge General physicians will serve as teachers, mentors and role models at the new campus.

The program, called the Baton Rouge LEAD (Leadership, Education, Advocacy and Discovery) Academy, marks the first time in the medical school’s 175-year history that it will open a training campus outside of the New Orleans area.

“This is a significant opportunity for Tulane University School of Medicine and Baton Rouge General Medical Center to create an exciting and innovative new model to train the state’s next generation of medical professionals and healthcare leaders,” said Tulane University President Scott Cowen.

“This bold and progressive initiative will provide unique opportunities for medical students in the state of Louisiana, and will define our state as a national leader in medical education,” said Dr. Benjamin Sachs, dean of the School of Medicine and senior vice president of Tulane University.

The LEAD program is innovative in several ways. First, it will focus on longitudinal care, giving students the unique opportunity to follow and work with the same panel of patients within an assigned doctor’s clinic for at least a year. The experience allows students to participate in the continuum of care for their patients for much longer than typical clinical rotations, which last up to eight weeks.

Secondly, it will emphasize healthcare policy and leadership. In their fourth year, students will be able to participate in rotations in health care policy and operations with various state agencies and health care organizations located in the state’s capital city. These rotations may include internships within the state’s Department of Health and Hospitals. There will also be opportunities for interdisciplinary education and training, as the Baton Rouge General nursing program and students from the University of Louisiana at Monroe College of Pharmacy are also on-site.

“The team at Tulane University School of Medicine is dedicated to a unique model of education, giving medical students dual training in medicine and public health. We are excited that the curriculum and experiences that we develop at Baton Rouge General will play a major role in shaping tomorrow’s leaders,” said Dr. Floyd “Flip” Roberts, Baton Rouge General chief medical officer.

Roberts will serve as regional dean for Tulane students in Baton Rouge. The program will start with 10 students and will enroll an additional 20 during its second year. Plans call for it to grow to 160 students during the next several years.

“The Baton Rouge region does not currently have a medical school, so we’re very excited to be involved in bringing this satellite campus for Tulane University School of Medicine to the area,” said Bill Holman, Baton Rouge General president and chief executive officer. “Our goal is to work closely with Tulane to develop one of the largest medical school satellite campuses in the country.”

Baton Rouge General Medical Center is a full-service, community hospital providing high quality cardiology, oncology, medical, emergency and surgical services for adult and pediatric patients in the greater Baton Rouge area. The hospital has two locations - Mid City and Bluebonnet. Baton Rouge General provides care to 175,000 people each year in its hospital, outpatient care areas and two full-service emergency centers.